Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Book
Review: I think that the book was interesting as it gave a perspective of the battle that would not otherwise be known to a 28 year old. Every reference to D-Day I've heard in history classes was always accompanied by the words "victory" or "courage". While both of these words do apply, the book gave the individuals actually involved in the fighting the opportunity to add words such as "horror", "waste", and "youth." Throughout the book, I often reflected on how these men's lives were cut short or changed forever on that day -never to live the life and the health that my grandfathers enjoyed well after the war was over.
Rating: 
Summary: A serious disappointment from this historian.
Review: Since I am such a fan of Mr Ambrose's earlier work "Pegasus Bridge," I looked forward to reading this book. It was quite a let-down. Mr Ambrose shines when he lets the people he interviews speak in their own words. Unfortunately, when he attempts to draw some "big picture" conclusions, the work staggers; as, for example, when he states that Eisenhower was a better General than Rommel (blinded perhaps by his blatant hero-worship of the former, painfully obvious throughout the book). And no serious student of the European theater of operations would agree with him on his assessment of the relative combat effectiveness of German troops (in the words of my father, who left several body parts in northeast France "they kicked the shit, wind and water out of us.") He also inexplicably gives short shrift to the other major amphibious operations--notably in the Pacific--where the book on amphib ops was being brilliantly re-written by the Marine Corps & the Navy. Parts of this book are excellent, and I will keep it in my personal library--but it was a major let-down from an author I otherwise admire
Rating:
Summary: Good overview of D-Day, but a questionable conclusion
Review: I enjoyed reading this work, but found Mr. Ambrose' conclusions regarding battlefield performance of American vs German troops the one objectionable point of the book. The German Army will go down in history as the most tactically proficient military force in the 20th Century. By June 1944 it had sustained horrific casualties in almost 5 years of war and many of its units, several which faced American lines in Normandy, were made up of what most historians have regarded as second rate forces, particularly when compared with the elite Panzer units arrayed against the British and Canadians. The German Army operated against overwhelming Allied air and sea power in the Normandy campaign. Additionally, they fought an enemy who through Ultra decrypts could anticipate every significant German move (ie, the counterattack on Carentan which thanks to Ultra the US helped blunt by shifting the 2d Armored Division the threatened area.) American veterans I have known greatly admired the weaponry the Germans possessed, particularly tanks and machine guns, and the cunning with which they fought, singling out the German paratroops, Waffen SS units, and Panzer units. Indeed, in the last few years the US Army and Marines have built their combat doctrine around "mission oriented tactics", designed to allow greater initiative on the part of subordinate commanders to act in battle, which is in part inspired by the training methods pioneered by the German Army before and during before WWII. The Wehrmacht no doubt fought for an abhorrent cause, under draconian discipline, and under a national leader who repeatedly interfered in his army commanders' conduct of operations. To minimize the German Army's military prowess is wrong and doesn't appropriately acknowledge the accomplishments of the US forces which ultimately defeated them in Normandy and Brittany. For an alternative point of view about the Normandy campaign read Max Hasting's book Overlord
Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended for cross-country trips!
Review: Two thumbs up from disparate readers of this historical
and first-person account of D-Day. I am the fiction and
history lover in the family, and my favorite part was the discussion of the Higgins boats, the landing craft that made D-Day possible, and the inventor who thought them up. My husband, whose reading tends to be practical
in the extreme, favored the part where the destroyers pounded
the defense installations and made it possible for "our boys"
to get away from the slaughter on the beach.
The book is clearly and entertainingly written, new facts surface
on every page, and we now have even more appreciation for those who were there. As a side effect, it also gave us plenty to talk
about with our elderly relatives at a family reunion as we finished
the book. One aunt proved to be acquainted with one of the subjects
quoted widely in the book.
Highly recommended for cross-country trips (one reads aloud while
the other drives.)
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is a great history lesson on the defining battle of WWII. Very compelling style that takes you through many interesting details about the battle. Shines light on the many heros that served in battle for our country in a day when America and it's military were given their rightful respect
Rating: 
Summary: Guilty Pleasure
Review: I enjoyed this book very much despite the sins of its historiography. Like many readers I was drawn to this book after seeing "Saving Private Ryan". As a trained historian, I quickly noted many of Ambrose's flaws. The book was highly predjudiced (America great, Britain laughable, all others inferior)and--like much military history--it often read like a propaganda piece. Still, I loved reading it and may read it again. Ambrose may not be a world class historian but he is a marvelous story teller and his narrative kept me in thrall. Despite ambrose's biases and omissions, I was deeply impressed by the amount of content and detail he produced. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in military history or who simply wants a good read. However, I would warn anyone who wants to learn about D-Day, World War II, or military history in general, to read this book carefully. Filter out as much of the nonsense as possible and absorb the gems that Ambrose provides. Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day", and any books by John Keegan, or T. N. Dupey would make a marvelous (and more intelligent) supplement to this one. Ah, but I enjoyed this book. Intellectually speaking it truly was a guilty pleasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Over zealous biast account..
Review: Having read many books covering WWII and D-day, I had picked up Stephen Ambrose D-Day book, and from the start it paints a very bias opinion relating to the Allies, Canadian and British. He starts off comparing Winston Churchill to a sick old man with waning influence, could this possibly be the same man who kept the morale of the british alive through the despairing dark days at the onset of the war and carried the people through with hope and belief to the end of WWII, there are various other paragraphs that scream to be contradicted but obviously Mr Ambrose lived in the American world of History ( here comes the calvary )and not Europe's.
Rating:
Summary: A great oral history when listened to on Audio...
Review: I listened to this book via CD. It was great. I have seen numerous D-day documentaries. The late Stephen Ambrose narrates this book himself.
There are numerous heroic accounts depicted in this book and many tales of the brutality and suffering of war. I found myself choked up at numerous points in the book... in sorrow for those who lost their lives and what they went through.
I would listen to any history as opposed to reading it. (more so because my commute is long and there are too few WWII titles available on CD.)
You won't be disappointed if you pruchase this audio book. The other amazon reviewers can give a better feel for the historical accuracy and lost vantage points in the book. It focuses more on the US contribution to D-day and specifically on Omaha beach and the paratroop landings.
However, it is a good tribute to all those who took part in the battle of Normandy. We should never forget that peace is a blessing.
Rating:
Summary: A Grunt's Eye View of D-Day
Review: Ambrose used over 1400 interviews to piece together a compelling history of the D-Day invasion. The strength of this "oral history" approach is that the reader is brought into the heart of the battle through eye-witness testimony of the facts and poignant expressions of emotion from a wide range of participants in this epoch-making event. Once the battle starts, the excitement and fear of the grunts sweeps the reader up into their personal histories. The weakness of the "oral history" approach is that with so many individual data points to connect the historian is hard pressed to find synthesis for all the details. Ambrose has done history a great service by collecting these memories, and the soldier's stories make for great reading. But Ambrose often fails to describe larger unit actions in full detail or to convey a sense of larger meaning of individual actions. In fact, little is said of the English and Canadian beaches, presumably because the participants were not as available for interviews. Ambrose's treatment of historical controversies is often short on factual background, and there is little if any theoretical or analytical context for these oral histories. These are simply good stories of many individual experiences. Don't read this book for lessons on strategic decision making or to answer questions such as Rommel's degree of responibility for the German defeat or Montgomery's total failure to achieve his D-Day objectives until after the American breakout. Ambrose touches on these larger issues, but that is not his focus. This is a book about the American achievement in Normandy, and here is where Ambrose excels. The individual courage and independence of the American small unit leaders is big story of this book and one of the great stories of the ETO. In portraying these Citizen Soldiers in all of their valor and toughness, Ambrose is right on target.
Rating:
Summary: D-Day book review
Review: D-Day us about the biggest battle of World War II. D-Day was that day the Allies invaded Normandy.
he Allies broke through the Atlantic Wall, Hitler's so called impenetrable defense. D-Day happened on June 6th, 1944. The Aliess had planned this full force invasion of Normandy months before it was carried out. hey trained day in and day out preparing for the biggest invasion in world history. The Allies thought that when they got to the beach that they could just walk right across because some B52's had bombed the wall, but they were wrong. The wall was barely damage and when they set foot on the beach they were hit with a barrage of machine gun and mortar fire. Although the Germans fought their best so did the Allies. On Omaha beach the casualties were extremely high! The British however, had brought in their special floating tabks so they practically walked across Sword Beach. The Canadians were hit pretty hard, but not as hard as the Americans on Omaha and Utah beaches. In the end the Allies won the battle at a heavy price. Thousands of soldiers lost their lives, a lot of them getting off the boats. Some of the others died of blood loss. The rest wre shot in vital spots such as the head or heart. But in the end D-Day was a big success.
|
